Medical boards are not addressing the problems within their own profession

And they will continue to treat and perform surgery upon their patients.

To put these figures into perspective, from a pool of at least 5,000 impaired Australian doctors, our medical boards have less than 500 currently under monitoring.

Surely such apathy and denial impacts negatively upon the health of their affected doctors.

Failure by our medical boards to openly address the issues of doctors' psychiatric or addiction illnesses infers an occupational stigma and shame which says more about the mentality of the boards themselves than their impaired members.

According to a British medical study undertaken on this subject, 60 per cent of all doctors reported to their medical boards for disciplinary action had problems involving alcohol, drugs, or both.

In addition, US research has shown that five to six per cent of physicians account for more than 50 per cent of all medical negligence litigation. These tended to be impaired, under-performing, and re-offending physicians.

These high-risk doctors undeniably perpetuate an enormous liability for medical insurers.

But it is not the insurers who hold the authority to remove these high-risk doctors from patient contact. Only the medical boards and their practitioner tribunals can accomplish this.

Sure, the insurers know the identity of our impaired and 'frequent flyer' physicians. It is they who are meeting the repeated awards and settlements to the aggrieved plaintiff/patients of these doctors.

And it is the medical insurance industry, and our best and most competent doctors, who are carrying the can for the ostrich mentality of our medical boards, by way of increased indemnity premiums for all doctors, and not just the industry's under-performers.

It stands to reason that if five percent of impaired and under-performing physicians account for fifty percent of all medical litigation, this offending five percent should be removed from all patient contact and diagnostic screening; thereby reducing overall medical litigation by half.

The current medical insurance circus has seen medical associations blaming governments; governments blaming insurers for poor investment choices; insurers and doctors blaming patients and lawyers for litigious mentalities; and patients blaming insurers and doctors for fiscal greed and poor work practices.